


Oxygen

by Emerald



Category: Moonlight (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-09
Updated: 2010-12-09
Packaged: 2017-10-14 22:48:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/154305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emerald/pseuds/Emerald
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The lines between love and admiration are often blurred.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Oxygen

**Author's Note:**

> Dedicated with love to Swas (aka Tamurile) - Thank you for the inspiration.

“It doesn’t work that way, Mick,” Josef punctuated his words with a hand sliced through the air as he paced-- agitated, “I can’t just stop wanting you.”

“Try.” Mick was on his feet then; his chin thrust forward.

“I have.”

“Then try harder.” Mick lock-focused a determined stare, and then he was breaking off and sitting back down, a weary hand stroked across his forehead; it felt like they’d been going around in circles for hours. “I’m sorry,” Mick tented his fingers against his lips, closed his eyes, took a moment to steady himself. “I gave up being human for Beth; we’re supposed to be getting married in less than six weeks. Josef, we have to find a way to deal with this,” Mick pleaded for consideration. “Besides, I thought you said you weren’t my sire?”

This wasn't a side effect of Josef turning him Mick had been expecting at all. And what if it wasn't just a side effect, what if there was more to it than that? The more he thought about it, the more those questions niggled at his mind.

“I’m not,” Josef tried to maintain a graceful air, borne of neutrality and nonchalance as he regarded Mick seated in front of him. “That doesn’t mean your blood still isn’t in me; we’re bonded now.”

“Well then un-bond us.”

“Why?”

The question was devastating in its simplicity; Josef had spoken without thinking, but it was still a point he was forcing Mick to consider.

Mick was having none of it. “What do you mean ‘why’?” He scoffed; incredulous he was even being asked to ponder that question.

Josef was beside Mick then, his thigh rested against Mick’s own. A hand cupped under Mick’s chin, Josef turned Mick’s face towards his.

“Look me straight in the eye, and tell me you didn’t have feelings for me before I turned you back into a Vampire.”

“Josef…” Mick tried to protest. Josef wasn’t about to let the matter drop that easily.

“…Mick,” Josef shifted closer, his forehead almost touching Mick’s. Lowering his voice, Josef repeated his words prior, “Look me straight in the eye, and tell me you didn’t have feelings for me before I turned you back into a Vampire.”

Mick’s lips were suddenly pressed against Josef’s, his tongue probing Josef’s mouth. He would justify his actions later; this had been his escape route, he needed the distraction; so long as they were doing this, Josef wasn’t asking awkward questions.

Mick growled into Josef’s mouth, felt the vibrations reverberating through Josef’s chest, and deepened the kiss.

They parted briefly, Mick’s forehead rested against Josef’s own. Their mouths, only millimetres apart, hung open as they panted against one another, exchanged air, breathed each other’s carbon dioxide.

And then they were coming back together in a furious clash of lips, and fangs. Fingers dug into flesh and muscle; bodies sought heated contact as they rode up against one another.

“Jesus.” Josef mouth-breathed, and handed Mick control; unresisting as Mick stood up, and pulled Josef to his feet along with him.

Choreographing an awkward waltz of tangled limbs, they started for the bedroom. Halfway there the tables were turned.

“Did you really think you were going to be the one calling the shots?” Josef tittered with idle amusement as he swapped their positions, and shoved Mick roughly against the nearest wall.

‘”Shit,” Mick managed a singular expletive; his head hitting the bricks and mortar behind with a resounding ‘crack’, sending a sprinkling of plaster dust down over them.

“You really shouldn’t pull the tiger’s tail, Mick; didn’t anyone teach you that?” Josef offered Mick an arched brow grin; and then he was at Mick’s throat, his teeth gripping either side of Mick’s thorax, exerting pressure. Shifting a hand onto Mick’s crotch, Josef began to stroke Mick’s length through the denim covering of his jeans.

Mick groaned, sucked on his bottom lip, torn between arousal, and the irrational feeling that he was scared out of his fucking mind. It wasn’t as if they’d never been here before, there had been other times, in ages past; the two of them seeking respite from the drudgeries of immortality. Something felt different now though; those previous furtive couplings had always lacked a certain edge. For a moment Mick wondered just how much more than he could actually chew had he bitten off. Regret began to creep in, mixed with an earnest desire for things to continue just the way they were.

If he’d been human, Mick thought, he could have almost said Josef would have been his oxygen. Try as he might, he still had to breathe.

Fangs still gripping Mick’s throat, Josef fumbled with the fastenings on Mick’s pants, quickly released Mick’s cock from its constraints; his fingers stroking along exposed flesh then.

“Oh -- Fuck.” Mick snaked a hand around the back of Josef’s neck; held tight, mewled when Josef quickened the pace.

Josef released his hold on Mick’s throat. “That can be arranged.”

 _Sure, why not? Get it out of their systems, move on; a one last time and then it’s over sort of deal._

More self-talk, more justification; Mick swallowed back a lump of uncertainty, and then nodded his acquiesce.

“Okay.”

Josef stepped back, studied Micks expression a moment, a hint of surprise flickering across his own. He hadn’t expected Mick to agree quite so readily; figured controlled seduction was more the name of the game this time.

“Follow me.”

Mick watched as Josef eventually smiled his approval, and then turned heel; sauntering in the direction of the bedroom without bothering to look back, confident Mick would be right behind him. Mick fell into step, tried to affect his own confident swagger as he followed Josef’s lead.

“Josef, wait,” Mick spoke up once they were both inside the room: the two of them headed towards the bed, Josef already in the process of shedding his clothes. “Just this once, alright?”

“If you insist, Mick.” The smile on Josef’s face belied his attempt at nonplus. He slipped the shirt from his shoulders, hastily unbuttoned, and removed his pants; his voice and manner letting Mick know he didn’t believe in the myth of ‘just once’; not for them.

Mick wasn’t given a chance to reply. Josef descended on him. In seconds Mick found himself stripped of his own clothing, his shirt yanked roughly over his head, jeans pulled down and discarded off to one side.

Josef caught one arm behind Mick’s back, and pressed him face forward onto the mattress beneath them. He was strong; stronger than Mick, stronger than he looked dressed in those fancy Italian suits he wore. Mick lay perfectly still, tried not to struggle; it wouldn’t have done him any good to try anyway.

“I can read you like a book,” Josef hovered over Mick then, a hand caressed along Mick’s side, his erection sliding between the cheeks of Mick’s arse, “I’ve always know what lights your fire – _Better than she does_.”

That last part was left unspoken; it hung in the air between them like a silent promise of things to come. Josef flipped Mick onto his back, hooked Mick’s legs over his shoulders, and then spat into the palm of his hand.

“Relax.” A single instruction, whispered hot against the side of Mick’s face; and then Josef was slicking his length with a hurried application of saliva, and penetrating Mick’s space; keeping a careful eye on Mick’s facial expressions, watching for signs of when he needed to slow down – back off a moment. Josef stopped when Mick took a sharp breath, and grimaced in pain. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Mick nodded a quick indication to keep going, “I’m surprised you care.”

“Of course I care,” Mick had been teasing; speaking those words with a surreptitious glint in is eye; Josef reacted as if Mick had just delivered him a stinging blow, disappointment etched across his features. “What do you think I am, some sort of animal?”

“No, I…”

Josef silenced any further stupidity with a kiss; his mouth crushed against Mick’s own. He thrust forward a little more, all the way inside Mick then; withdrew slightly, and thrust back in again, building a steady rhythm.

“Jesus, yes,” Mick gritted his teeth, arched into the sensation; Josef’s angle of penetration adjusted slightly, nailing Mick’s prostate with every stroke. Jolts of pleasure ran along Mick’s spine, sparks shooting down to his fingertips and toes; he’d almost forgotten how good it was when they were together, “Oh Jesus, fuck, yes – don’t stop.”

For a moment Mick sounded as if he were actually concerned Josef was planning on doing just that; Leave him lying there unsatisfied; stretched taut, and hanging on an exquisite knife’s edge. Mick repeated the words like a mantra, urging Josef on.

“Anyone ever tell you, you worry too much?” Josef chuckled, and threw a hand onto Mick’s cock.

“Anyone ever tell you, you talk too much?” Mick managed to stammer back; his breath falling ragged as he felt the first stirrings of orgasm rising from the base of his spine.

“Oh, great comeback.” Josef lifted himself up onto outstretched arms, and looked down at Mick; eyebrows raised in a facetious arch as he offered mock congratulations. And then he was falling forward once more; a hand still gripping Mick’s cock, pumping Mick’s length in earnest as he stepped up the pace, the last of his control almost gone now, and began slamming into him--unabashed.

And that’s when Mick came, teetering on the edge one minute, hurtling into the abyss the next - strands of white shooting onto his chest as he bucked, and snarled, and sank his fangs into the top of Josef’s shoulder, his whole body shaking with the force of his climax.

Seconds later Josef stilled - tensed - panted with anticipation as he hung suspended by a thread, and then fell into his own protracted release.

Josef waited until the last residual pulsations of orgasm had faded, and then withdrew to lie alongside, feeling Mick contract a few more times as he did so. He stroked the top of Mick’s forehead, wiped the sweat from Mick’s brow. Mick was still dazed, his breathing ragged.

Gradually, Mick shifted into Josef’s arms. Despite his repletion, Mick’s mind was awash with thoughts; images of what had just transpired playing on repeat behind closed eyes. Josef had always possessed the ability to clear a room with a single snap of his fingers. He radiated power; people both feared, and respected him. There was another side though, one that Mick was amongst the privilege few to have seen. A softer side, a side that was capable of great love, and tenderness; behind the defensive coat of cynicism Josef attired himself in.

The lines between love and admiration were often blurred. Tonight Josef had commanded Mick just as easily as any number of rooms he had walked through in his eternal life. Mick had always admired his friend; now he had to wonder exactly when it was that admiration had changed to love.

“I have to go.” Mick was on his feet then, baulking at realisation. Clothes hastily gathered up, and thrown on, Mick stammered out a hurried round of excuses; tripping over his words as he hastened to make his getaway. “I’m sorry, this was…I’ve got a case I need to start work on first thing, I’ll call you.”

“Don’t I get a kiss goodbye?” Josef teased, calling after Mick’s retreating form. Mick was already headed for the door, unable, or unwilling to look back. Josef didn’t bother going after him, didn’t see the need. He’d already read the emotion etched clear across Mick’s face. Mick would be back; of that much Josef was certain.

One arm behind his head, Josef smiled up at the ceiling, and uttered a single word in response to Mick’s retreat.

“Gotcha.”

Another night, a different bedroom, worlds apart sometimes it seemed, Mick lay with Beth; his arms drawn around her bare shoulders, his face burrowed into the softness of her blonde hair, breathing in the scent of jojoba and cinnamon. So warm, so enticing, so…

 _…Human._

 _I don’t know if I can do this…_

“You’re amazing; you know that, don’t you?” Beth smiled, and then changed positions slightly; her leg draped across Mick’s thigh; one hand rested in the centre of Mick’s chest.

Mick muttered a distracted reply, and kissed the top of Beth’s head – his thoughts turning to other matters.

 _Another night, a different bedroom, worlds apart sometimes it seemed._

“You ok?” Beth propped herself up onto one shoulder, looked at Mick with quiet concern. “You seem a little preoccupied.”

 _I cheated on you with Josef Kostan-_

“I’m fine,” Mick forced a smile of his own, gave his reassurances, “it’s just work. I caught a difficult case recently; a teenage runaway, the parents have been giving me grief over it. “

 _\- I think I may be in love with him._

“Can’t stand the thought of their darling Peggy Sue changing her name to Fifi, and dancing on table tops, is that it?” Beth teased, laughing at her own wisecrack.

“Something like that.” Mick snorted a laugh of his own - grateful, at least, for the temporary reprieve in conversation.

The reprieve didn’t last long. Mick waited until Beth had settled back into his arms - his expression darkening; brow furrowed in contemplation – thoughts drifting back towards a tide swell of emotion, and uncertainty.

 _They were supposed to have gotten it out of their systems, moved on; a one last time and then it’s over sort of deal…_

 _…I think I may be in love with him._

“We should get some sleep,” Mick announced to no one in particular then. There would be no long, drawn out goodbyes, he would spare Beth that much at least.

Just before dawn Mick packed a bag, composed an impossible letter that never would explain things fully, left the keys to his apartment, and the letter on the kitchen bench for Beth to find - and then turned his back on everything he once knew.

“I might be crazy right now, but hear me out,” Mick stood on Josef’s doorstep, his body language a mixture of resigned certainty, and desperate pleading, “You were right, I did have feelings for you before you turned me back into a Vampire. I still do…”

Josef leant against the framework of the door; arms folded across his chest, legs crossed at the ankles; his weight rested on one hip, eyebrows raised – Oh really?

And then Mick spoke again, gesturing to the suitcase by his side.

“…I need you to come away with me, right now - before I change my mind.”

“Just like that,” Josef pretended to look nonplussed: “Leave my home, leave my friends; transfer my business ventures to another city…”

“…You’re right, I should go.” Mick halted Josef’s speech; tried to affect a casual note of ‘never mind’ as he hid the well of disappointment that had sprung forth. He’d been prepared to give up everything for this man – _Idiot._

“Mick, wait,” Josef snatched Mick’s arm just as Mick turned to go. A beguiling smile set in place, one eyebrow raised in an irreverent arch; Josef pulled Mick inside - suitcase and all. “Leaving so soon?”

“I thought…”

Josef pointed to his own suitcases lined up next to the couch, “I’ve been packed and ready to go ever since that night, Mick. I’m presumptuous that way.”

Josef grinned then, and shifted into Mick’s space - his arms drawn around Mick’s neck, claiming Mick’s lips for his own.

“Yeah, ‘always be prepared’,” Mick scoffed as he broke the kiss, his banter punctuating a palpable sense of relief; “You’re a regular boy scout, aren’t you?”

“If you’re lucky, I’ll show you how to Jamboree,” Josef picked up his luggage then, and headed for the door, turning back just the once. “Are you coming or not?”

There was a moment, only fleeting, where Mick’s eyes had met Josef’s. He’d read everything he needed in that one look.

 _To the stars and beyond, I will love you forever._

If he’d been human, Mick thought, he could have almost said Josef would have been his oxygen. Try as he might, he still had to breathe.

“Let’s go.”

Suitcase in hand, Mick followed Josef’s lead - Out of the shadows…

…And into eternity.


End file.
